In the field of apparatus for photographic recording of metering devices which are used to determine product usage quantities, and particularly the types employed by utility companies which necessitate timely and accurate readings based upon consumer billing intervals, and other types of meters read at regular intervals, a new method of making said reading and dispensing the documentation thereof is provided which is adapted by special mounting and set up to be used with typical meter bases in use at present, which makes the reading and records it upon a finished photographic document which is then automatically stored in a security compartment for its eventual disposition by the product user, or its producer, or the others who would monitor meter readings which are given at predetermined timed intervals.
Prior art shows numerous metering arrangements which utilize photographic means or substances with a nature which shows their extent of exposure to particular electrical or molecular environments, thereby giving a reading regarding such exposure. Other methods of metering use quantitative data to dispense measured amounts of gases, liquids, solids or electricity. Some dispense measured products based upon timed allotments. Some metering devices are available which will expose photographic film at predetermined timed intervals, producing a record of product use through simple photographic means, yet a finished document is not automatically produced and automatically delivered into a secured compartment. Previous apparatus has not been adaptable to typical meter bases in use at present, nor made use of the automatic features of typical inexpensive instant-picture cameras.